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PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (The National/PINA Nius Online) - A Papua New Guinea journalism lecturer has told of how he was assaulted and abused by police involved in the eviction of settlers from Madang.

Noted journalist and Divine Word University lecturer Kevin Pamba, who covered the evictions last week, said he feared for his life.

Pamba said he was picked up by heavily armed policemen.and taken to the back of a police station for questioning over the reporting of the evictions of squatters from other areas of Papua New Guinea.

The policemen, who are based in the Highlands but were brought to Madang for the evictions, claimed his report was biased. They said it painted a bad picture of them in the eyes of their superiors in Konedobu.

On the morning when the story on the eviction was published in The National, the policemen, in full battle gear, went in truckloads to the Divine Word campus. They searched for Pamba.

PAPE'ETE, Tahiti (Oceania Flash) - One of Tahiti's most famous luxury liners, the Wind Song, had to be evacuated early on Monday due to a fire onboard, as it was carrying some 127 passengers and 92 crew members in the Leeward Island group.

According to Tahitipresse, the cause of the fire, believed to have started in the engine room, was not immediately known. The ship was located 12 nautical miles off Tahaa Island.

The decision to evacuate was made half an hour later by France's representative in French Polynesia, High Commissioner Michel Mathieu after Wind Song's skipper said he could no longer rely on electricity to fight the fire.

All passengers were transferred to the "Aremiti", a ferry that was sent to the rescue, then onto nearby Raiatea Island. No casualties were reported.

The passengers are to be flown back to Tahiti later today.

Wind Song owner, American Seattle-based company Windstar cruise, while confirming the evacuation, said 17...

PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (Papua New Guinea Post-Courier/PINA Nius Online) - Papua New Guinea's hopes for a World Cup rugby tournament place next year were shattered when they lost 47-14 to a heavier Tongan side in Port Moresby.

The Pukpuks have to be thankful for a woeful day by Tonga's kicker Peirre Hola, who missed most of the conversions. Otherwise the final scoreline in this playoff game would have been much more humiliating.

"They were a much heavier side but I want to thank my forwards, they put their hands up against them," Pukpuk captain Paul Joseph said after the loss.

"We have one more game with them in Tonga and I am sure the boys will lift their game," Joseph said.

Tonga coach Jim Love said he was impressed with the performance of the Pukpuks.

SUVA, Fiji (Pacnews/Pacific Media Watch): A Fiji Hansard reporter today told a treason trial she was stunned when the parliamentary session on 19 May 2000 was unceremoniously adjourned after what she called "strangers" entered the chambers.

The strangers started ordering MPs around before firing shots into the air.

Giving evidence at the trial against journalist/publicist Josefa Nata and former MP Ratu Timoci Silatolu, Serei Seniloli Muacavu, the first Hansard reporter on duty in the House that morning, gave a running account of how the strangers interrupted the session.

She said they jumped over the security bars separating MPs from the public gallery saying: "Sit down and remain calm, this is a civil coup. Nobody move, this is a civil coup by the people, by the Taukei people, nobody will get hurt".

The court heard every word of Speight and his followers as Justice Andrew Wilson read Hansard extracts written down by Muacavu that morning, orders uttered...

MANILA, Pilippines (PINA Nius Online) - How many people would be willing to dig irrigation canals and weed plantations without pay? In the Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea, many seem willing to invest in their future in this way.

Each day, 30 men and women from the province tend a 39-hectare coffee plantation in the Daulo District in the Eastern Highlands. The plantation is about 30 minutes away over rugged roads from Goroka, which is famous for its organic coffee.

When their own rituals of work are done, they walk up the mountain to meet David Oromarie, who is teaching them new, more efficient techniques for producing coffee.

Oromarie is one of the service providers who has been contracted to help farmers in the Eastern Highlands and Morobe provinces increase their productivity and income. He is doing so under the US$7.6 million Smallholder Support Services Pilot Project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

PORT VILA, Vanatu (Port Vila Presse/PINA Nius Online) - A Vanuatu seminar on "International Project Investment Fraud" has called on authorities to tighten loopholes that make it possible for "crook" investors to enter the country undetected.

The seminar was to assist Vanuatu detect and prevent foreign investors planning fraud from setting up in Vanuatu.

Financial adviser Mark Stafford said the workshop objective was to help Vanuatu have more control in detecting and preventing crooks from entering the country.

Mr Stafford appealed to journalists who attended the seminar to be more vigilant in their reporting. Journalists should be more investigative, transparent and neutral when reporting on these issues, he said.

Pep said the disease was spreading at an alarming rate and more and more people are dying from it every day. He said even though the National AIDS Council has worked very hard in the past years - with support from partners - to educate people...

JAYAPURA, Papua New Guinea - A separatist group of local people in Papua province commemorated the annual, self-proclaimed Papua Independence Day on Sunday in a modest way, hoisting its ‘Morning Star’ flag.

The commemoration was held at the residence of the late Papua Presidium Council (PDP) chairman Theys Hiyo Eluay who was killed on November 11, 2001.

The government has banned the hoisting of the morning star flag in official government offices and public places. The morning star flag hoisted at the residence of the late Eluay was accompanied with the raising the official Indonesian red-and-white flag on the same mask.

SUVA, Fiji (AFP/Pacific Media Watch) - Australian aid provided transcriptions of Fiji's high profile treason trial were Friday being turned into a money spinning operation for the High Court Registry, Asia-Pacific Network reports.

An Australian company, Auscript, is providing full tape and written transcripts of the case against politician Timoci Silatolu and journalist Jo Nata who are in the dock, each facing a single treason charge containing seven overt acts. They have pleaded not guilty and are before Justice Andrew Wilson, of Australia, sitting in the Fiji High Court.

Auscript has previously covered major trials in Samoa and Papua New Guinea with the media provided with transcripts on disk, and in the case of Samoa, via a freely available webpage.

Justice Wilson, on an application from AFP, ruled in court Wednesday morning that the transcripts should be made available to the media at F$1 (50 US cents) a page.

PAGO PAGO, Samoa (Samoa News/PINA Nius Online) - The American Samoa Inter-island Shipping Corporation is planning to open direct cargo services between American Samoa and Savaii in neighboring Samoa.

The company's service will bypass Samoa's capital of Apia on the more developed island of Upolu.

"We will not compete with ocean transport services provided by the MV Lady Naomi in and out of Apia," official Wallace Thompson said.

The MV Lady Naomi is operated by the Samoan government-owned Samoa Shipping Corporation.

American Samoa Inter-island Shipping Corporation's move to expand direct service to Savaii is based on a memorandum of understanding between the two Samoas. It looks at cooperative efforts at improving ocean transportation and trade between American Samoa and Samoa.

Officials said the company has been working with the Government of Samoa through the Department of Trade, Commerce and Industry.

Pacific Islands Report is a nonprofit news publication of the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawai‘i. Offered as a free service to readers, PIR provides an edited digest of news, commentary and analysis from across the Pacific Islands region, Monday - Friday.